Albany rallies to eliminate Saratoga

ALBANY -- Saratoga Springs boys soccer coach Jeff Geller decided his team would control the midfield in its playoff opener against Albany High School. For the first 50 minutes of the Section II Class AA playoff match, it was mission accomplished for the visitors.

The Blue Streaks played some of their best soccer of the season en route to a 1-0 halftime lead before the Falcons rallied for a 2-1 victory at Plumeri field Thursday. "Anybody who watched that game for the first 40 minutes, they know who the better team was today," said Geller. "We out-possessed them, we moved the ball."

Aided by a strong win at their backs, center midfielders Alex Cadet and Anthony Bonacio helped the Blue Streaks maintain possession of the ball and senior captain Preston Rice provided great passing from out wide.

Although Avi Durling was the lone Saratoga Springs forward, the speedy junior made smart runs and helped win two corner kicks early in the match.

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The Falcons survived those set piece opportunities and a free kick from Cadet that Bonacio headed over the bar in the 14th minute.

Rice played a nice through ball to Durling in the 18th minute that a defender deflected out of bounds and the Blue Streaks' persistence was rewarded on the ensuing corner kick.

Cadet served a ball to the back post that Durling headed into the far corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

The visitors had several good chances to add to the lead, including Durling's close-range shot saved by Albany goalkeeper Lucas Phayre-Gonzalez early in the second half.

Slowly, and with the wind advantage after halftime, the Falcons began to create chances of their own.

"Saratoga was owning us in midfield," said Albany coach David Weiss. "We were in a 4-3-3 formation that wasn't working for us. We moved back to a 4-5-1 and obviously it paid off the way we wanted it to."

The Falcons' Erick Kwizera made sure of that. The speedy midfielder made a brilliant solo run in the first half that ended in a shot off the post.

He created another chance for himself in the 53rd minute by sliding past several Blue Streaks defenders and calmly placing the ball into the corner of the net. Saratoga Springs goalkeeper Ryan Pfeifer had no chance on the shot.

"He's a gifted player and as only a sophomore he'll really grow as a player," Weiss said of his starting center mid.

The game-winner came just three minutes later.

Kwizera picked up the ball on the left side of the field and swung in a perfect cross to the far post. Tyler Stempsey, a former striker-turned defender, was there to head it in to complete the comeback.

"He's our leading scorer from the back," Weiss said of Kwizera. "I've been trying to make a center back our of him for years. He's made a knack for getting up forward and scoring crucial goals."

Saratoga Springs' season comes to an end after gaining momentum with a 2-0-1 run to end the regular season.

"I was proud, we were moving the ball well," Geller said of his team's play. "It was a culmination of what we've been working on all year."